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Post subject: blues deluxe v hot rod deluxe
Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:40 am
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Hi everyone

im looking to purchase a fender amp and these two have caught my attention. I have been using a hot rod deluxe in the practice space for the last year and i like the tone of it but i have an opportunity to buy a blues deluxe at a reasonable price and was wondering if anybody could fill me in as to whats the difference. I play mostly blues, funk and classic rock. I have an orange tiny terror for hi gain stuff but it dont stay clean so i might look to A/B the two should i get one of the above. Any info would be great!

Cheers

Brian


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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:01 am
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Hi Brian, there is a lot of discussion going on right now about this now. You may want to direct your question there. You can also try the search. It's been discussed many time before too.

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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:12 am
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Hi bfitz :)

Mate here is my current rigg..I recently purchased a brand new Blues Deluxe Reissue and test drove it for a couple of days.

I am not a fan of the GT tubes that Fender uses..to my ears they sound brittle and sterile.

Last night I swapped out the two Fender GT 6l6b power tubes and the three 12ax7 preamp tubes for a complete set of JJ TESLA tubes.

I rebiased the amp to 91.6 MV's and whammo City Sin Sin Tone Tone Tone.

I believe that the JJ's bring out good clarity in this amp and gives me good note seperation.

The JJ's really take out those harsh ice pick ear piercing highs and mids but still give you a well balanced bass, mids, highs.

This is a great amp and I do not regret buying it.

All I am waiting on now is my Jensen P12N speaker to arrive to put into the BDLXRI and then I will leave it alone.


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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:28 am
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yeah i use JJ's in the amps i have already and i swear by them and i also hold winged C svet's in high regard also.

I tried the search and found lots of topics on the hot rod deluxe being unreliable and needing a speaker change and modding. is the hot rod just more modern sounding or whats the craic?

ill try the search again and see what happens eh.


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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:54 am
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My god

i found the thread on how the blues deluxe is better than the HRDx and Jebus what a heated debate. I think im gonna look at the deluxe reverb if possible. it was rated as the best blues amp there is on music radar so it might be worth a look.

Not to put a spanner in the works and start it all off again but the ones we use at the practice space have been used at gigs by the guitar player in our band (i play bass in that band) and he's never had probs and it sounds fine to my ears anyway although granted he uses the clean channell and a dirt box cos the drive channell is kinda squishy sounding or something.

cheers guys

B


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Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:07 am
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bfitz wrote:
My god

i found the thread on how the blues deluxe is better than the HRDx and Jebus what a heated debate. I think im gonna look at the deluxe reverb if possible. it was rated as the best blues amp there is on music radar so it might be worth a look.

Not to put a spanner in the works and start it all off again but the ones we use at the practice space have been used at gigs by the guitar player in our band (i play bass in that band) and he's never had probs and it sounds fine to my ears anyway although granted he uses the clean channell and a dirt box cos the drive channell is kinda squishy sounding or something.

cheers guys

B


You'd be way happier with a DRRI and a couple of dirt boxes.

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Post subject: Re: blues deluxe v hot rod deluxe
Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:52 am
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bfitz wrote:
...I have been using a hot rod deluxe in the practice space for the last year and i like the tone of it but i have an opportunity to buy a blues deluxe at a reasonable price and was wondering if anybody could fill me in as to whats the difference....
Cheers

Brian


Hi Brian,

Pretty much the only difference is that the output transformer is different, and the HRDlx has a "more drive" button, which means that the BDlx has half of the V2 preamp tube not being used. The HRDlx has an external speaker jack, the BDlx does not. The amps are both are identical otherwise, not sure if the speakers are different. They both have the exact same power supply circuit, which is the source of some of the much talked about HRDlx problems. The grid bias voltage is set slightly different on the 2 amps as they have slightly different B+ voltages (it's only a couple of volts difference), but they seem to have the same cathode current, so the bias is the same as far as the tubes know. The bias is adjustable on the HRDlx, not adjustable on the BDlx. The clean channel on both amps will sound just about the same, unless the BDlx has a different speaker than the HRDlx. Of course different tubes can affect the sound. Both are 6L6, but could be different brands depending if the owner changed them or not.

All things considered, both amps will sound about the same. But, if you want a stereo setup, then adding the BDlx would give you two amps that sound great together. Two amps out of a stereo pedal will sound wonderful in many different ways. Set both amps clean for a great stereo sound, or set one amp on the drive channel and one amp on the clean channel for a sound that is like two different players playing at the same time, sounds great! If you want another amp, with a different/better blues sound, I agree that you might like the DRRI, since you already have the HRDlx.

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Post subject: Re: blues deluxe v hot rod deluxe
Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 4:41 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
bfitz wrote:
...I have been using a hot rod deluxe in the practice space for the last year and i like the tone of it but i have an opportunity to buy a blues deluxe at a reasonable price and was wondering if anybody could fill me in as to whats the difference....
Cheers

Brian


Hi Brian,

Pretty much the only difference is that the output transformer is different, and the HRDlx has a "more drive" button, which means that the BDlx has half of the V2 preamp tube not being used. The HRDlx has an external speaker jack, the BDlx does not. The amps are both are identical otherwise, not sure if the speakers are different. They both have the exact same power supply circuit, which is the source of some of the much talked about HRDlx problems. The grid bias voltage is set slightly different on the 2 amps as they have slightly different B+ voltages (it's only a couple of volts difference), but they seem to have the same cathode current, so the bias is the same as far as the tubes know. The bias is adjustable on the HRDlx, not adjustable on the BDlx. The clean channel on both amps will sound just about the same, unless the BDlx has a different speaker than the HRDlx. Of course different tubes can affect the sound. Both are 6L6, but could be different brands depending if the owner changed them or not.

All things considered, both amps will sound about the same. But, if you want a stereo setup, then adding the BDlx would give you two amps that sound great together. Two amps out of a stereo pedal will sound wonderful in many different ways. Set both amps clean for a great stereo sound, or set one amp on the drive channel and one amp on the clean channel for a sound that is like two different players playing at the same time, sounds great! If you want another amp, with a different/better blues sound, I agree that you might like the DRRI, since you already have the HRDlx.


Hi Shimmilou,

In relation to the Bias Control and External Speaker Jack, Mate that may be the case with the older blues deluxe's, however on my BDLX the Biais is adjustable and i have an external speaker jack. pretty much the same deal with the HRD... 8)

Cheers.


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Post subject: HRDlx v BDlx
Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:19 pm
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Hi kineman karma,

That's nice to know, I was going by the schematic for each, they don't show the ext jack or adjustable bias for the BDlx. I guess that they are even more similar than I thought, thanks for the info. I have only played one Blues Deluxe, special version with Moto finish. I didn't spend much time looking at the back, just enjoyed the sound. :D

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Post subject: Re: HRDlx v BDlx
Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:06 pm
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shimmilou wrote:
Hi kineman karma,

That's nice to know, I was going by the schematic for each, they don't show the ext jack or adjustable bias for the BDlx. I guess that they are even more similar than I thought, thanks for the info. I have only played one Blues Deluxe, special version with Moto finish. I didn't spend much time looking at the back, just enjoyed the sound. :D


Hey No Probs, Mate for your info my rythm guitarist purchased an EJ Strat and the amp that came with it was a Hotrod Deluxe that had a clear finish and tweed coloured grill. Very awesome looking amp and absolutely great sound with it's alnico 5 Jensen speaker.

Recently after a gig we did he wanted to hit the town for a few drinks after our gig and he was quite happy to leave his rigg in his old car that you can not secure.

I said don't you dare...I will look after it for you.

So we loaded his rigg into my car with my stuff and off to home I went.

A couple of days later I couldn't help myself, so I inspected the amp to find printed on the left inside....Made For Australia etc etc etc Hotrod Deluxe #16 out of 50.....hmmmmm

I didn't want to give it back to him..

here is his set up...

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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 9:45 am
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Definitely stick with the Blues Deluxe Reissue vs the original Blues Deluxe. A lot of improvements were made in the Reissue over the original in the case of reliability, performance, and features. I'd take it over a Deluxe Reverb Reissue any day.

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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 12:15 pm
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IMO, There is no comparison in build quality, tone or reliability. The DRRI has its tube sockets mounted to the chassis, the Blues Deluxe doesn't, the DRRI also has two real channels with separate EQ, has better sounding reverb and doesn't use pressboard for a cabinet. All said and done, the Blues Deluxe is still a Hot Rod series amp without the more drive channel. But we all play what we like and that's all that counts. :wink:

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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 1:20 pm
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63supro wrote:
IMO, There is no comparison in build quality, tone or reliability. The DRRI has its tube sockets mounted to the chassis, the Blues Deluxe doesn't, the DRRI also has two real channels with separate EQ, has better sounding reverb and doesn't use pressboard for a cabinet. All said and done, the Blues Deluxe is still a Hot Rod series amp without the more drive channel. But we all play what we like and that's all that counts. :wink:


You left out one important factor: Price.

The DRRI is $250.00 more than a BDRI. That can make a big difference to many people.

But you are right. We all play what we like. You like the DRRI (as do many others) and will continue to recommend it. I like the BDRI (as do many others) and will continue to recommend it. :D

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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 1:48 pm
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bluesky636 wrote:
63supro wrote:
IMO, There is no comparison in build quality, tone or reliability. The DRRI has its tube sockets mounted to the chassis, the Blues Deluxe doesn't, the DRRI also has two real channels with separate EQ, has better sounding reverb and doesn't use pressboard for a cabinet. All said and done, the Blues Deluxe is still a Hot Rod series amp without the more drive channel. But we all play what we like and that's all that counts. :wink:


You left out one important factor: Price.

The DRRI is $250.00 more than a BDRI. That can make a big difference to many people.

But you are right. We all play what we like. You like the DRRI (as do many others) and will continue to recommend it. I like the BDRI (as do many others) and will continue to recommend it. :D
True ,250 more in price and only the individual can say whether they would be able to pay that much more .To me it was worth it, but to some people ,250 more might be 250 million more.I can say though , I am not sorry I paid the 250 more to get the DRRI.its a better amp with a great history and one that is pretty much trouble free.Those things are worth the extra money.


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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 2:35 pm
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budglo wrote:
I am not sorry I paid the 250 more to get the DRRI.its a better amp with a great history and one that is pretty much trouble free.Those things are worth the extra money.


+1

Preach it, Brutha Bud!

Arjay

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